Karen didn't ask any questions... she didn't have to and honestly, she didn't want to. She already knew, so instead of prolonging the inevitable, she encouraged Stevie to just take a moment to pause before she made any rash decisions that could change everything.
Leaving her fiancé to go to Hawaii to meet another man would be a deal breaker for most men and she reminded her of that. It wasn't in a mean way- her words were kind and sensitive, but when Stevie didn't change her mind, Karen knew there was no more to be said... When she wanted something, she got it- always.
"I know it sounds crazy..." Stevie had finished explaining the situation- not everything but enough to make her feel slightly uncomfortable.
She just mentioned that Carol hadn't spoken to Lindsey in a few days and that was unlike him. Stevie told him that she was really worried, and she kind of hoped she'd know where he was, so she had to go make sure he was alright.
Raising a brow, he shifted awkwardly as he stayed leant back against the kitchen island. "Yeah, it does." He admitted, not trying to be mean, but not quite understanding how her ex had such a strong grip on her still...
By then it was just the two of them in the kitchen, being that Karen had taken Silas into the living room to watch a movie before his mom got there to get him... She was almost certain they weren't going to get into a full blown argument, after all, it wasn't Lindsey in there, but she could never be too certain.
"I don't get it." He couldn't help but scoff, shaking his head in disbelief as he tossed his hands to the side. "I don't understand why you have to jump up and go check on a grown adult..." George wasn't going to say anything bad about Lindsey- he knew better, but he was going to voice how annoying it was for him.
"I'm not asking you to understand." Her voice was gentle and sympathetic... This was exactly why most of her other relationships had ended. "And I don't expect you to try." She added, brown eyes locked with his as she lingered in the center of the room. "Lindsey and I are complicated, confusing and difficult, but I still care." She did- more than anything and that had always been the problem... they both cared far too much than everyone around them thought they should.
He paused for a moment, trying hard not to roll his eyes but it was almost impossible. "So what does this mean?" He wondered. "You go to Hawaii, you find Lindsey and then what?" The way he said that made her heart sink into the pit of her stomach... She didn't really know.
With a soft sigh, she bit down on the inside of her cheek very lightly. "I'm sorry..." she was, deep down, but on the surface it felt like the right thing in the moment. "But I have to go." Stevie's voice cracked, silently telling herself that she wouldn't cry. "And I'll understand if I get home and you're not-"
"I'll see you when you get back." He cut her off, not even considering what she was hinting at. "Be safe, Stevie." He added, nodding his head softly as his eyes fell to the marble counter top. "I love you..."
~~~
Stevie sat in total silence the entire flight. She was too busy staring out the window, watching the world below pass them by going 500 miles an hour... Just like life seemed to do.
She thought about a million different things in those few hours... Replaying moments and memories that were so far out of reach, it was crazy that she could still remember it with such detail.
Like the morning Lindsey called her, just after three to tell her that their baby was born... a little boy that Carol wanted to name after his father. And he begged her to come to meet Adam but she couldn't... She didn't have it in herself at the time.
She regretted it later in life, but it was too overwhelming.
It was one of the million moments in time that she felt like she should have been there and she wasn't. And maybe Carol was right, maybe it was their time to finally figure it out and be happy or at least try to find it within in one another...
She wasn't sure, but it was beginning to eat away at her and the more she reminded herself of all the things they'd missed out on, the more she realized that they had really lost an entire lifetime together.
"What if there is another woman?" Stevie creased a brow, turning to look at Karen, who was across the hall of the private plane.
She cracked a soft smirk, glancing up from the news she'd been reading. "You think he can still juggle three women?" She was joking, but the look on Stevie's face told her that she was being serious. "No." Karen shook her head, eyes traveling back to the headlines on the crumpled up paper. "I don't think there's anyone else." She assured, almost totally certain of it.
Sinking back, Stevie let out the softest sigh. "He's always been the one..." she whispered, tears lingering in her eyes as her bottom lip began to tremble in a subtle manner.
Nodding softly, she pursed her lips to the side as she pulled her reading glasses off to really look over at Stevie. "Then stop doing this to yourselves and each other."
~~~
Stevie and Karen split up outside the airport- both of them getting into separate cars and heading in two different directions... one was going to a hotel on the beach, where a much deserved piña colada was calling her name, while the other woman was headed to the same house she'd adored for the better half of her life... The house that was on the verge of being someone else's in just a few short days.
It was the longest drive it had ever been, but when they pulled up, she quickly tossed the driver a loose bill and slipped out of the backseat with just a purse and a mission.
And it felt the same as it always had. The plants were lining the sidewalk beautifully, the wind had picked up and the waves were crashing across the rocky shoreline.
The only difference was, when she got to the front door, all the lights were off, everything was put away and there wasn't another soul in sight.
It was just her...
